Effect of mosquito midgut trypsin activity on dengue-2 virus infection and dissemination in Aedes aegypti

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2005 May;72(5):631-7.

Abstract

The effect of mosquito midgut trypsins in dengue serotype 2 flavivirus (DENV-2) infectivity to Aedes aegypti was studied. Addition of soybean trypsin inhibitor (STI) in a DENV-2 infectious blood meal resulted in a 91-97% decrease in midgut DENV-2 RNA copies (qRT-PCR analysis). STI treatment also resulted in slower DENV-2 replication in the midgut, less DENV-2 E protein expression, and decreased dissemination to the thorax and the head. A second uninfected blood meal, 7 days after the STI-treated infectious meal, significantly increased DENV-2 replication in the midgut and recovered oogenesis, suggesting that the lower viral infection caused by STI was in part due to a nutritional effect. Mosquitoes fed DENV-2 digested in vitro with bovine trypsin (before STI addition) exhibited a transient increase in midgut DENV-2 4 days postinfection. Blood digestion and possibly DENV-2 proteolytic processing, mediated by midgut trypsins, influence the rate of DENV-2 infection, replication, and dissemination in Ae. aegypti.

MeSH terms

  • Aedes / enzymology*
  • Aedes / virology*
  • Animals
  • Dengue Virus / physiology*
  • Female
  • Gastrointestinal Tract / enzymology
  • Ovary
  • RNA, Viral / analysis
  • Time Factors
  • Trypsin / metabolism*
  • Trypsin Inhibitors / metabolism
  • Virus Replication

Substances

  • RNA, Viral
  • Trypsin Inhibitors
  • Trypsin